Don't Turn your Back on me
by Agent-MC-SkyeHill
Summary: Soulmate AU. Skye joins the bus and has the unfortunate (depending on who you ask, of course) incident of meeting her soul mate. Which changes the original course fate had set out for her. Now, she's working on a relationship that was shaky from the start as well as working to constantly save the world without them ever knowing, what could go wrong? Everything apparently.
1. Chapter 1

Don't Turn your Back on Me

Through out her life, Skye honestly thought she would never meet her soulmate. With each passing year, the naïve hope of finding them was slowly slipping away. With each year, the idea of her being worthless and undeserving was reinforced over and over. Each foster parent brought a new expression as they looked at her soul mark (without her permission, she might add) disgust, pity, shock, anger, amusement... despite the variety, the expression was always made with a negative sound.

" _ **Let's just get this out the way before you open you mouth.**_ _ **Just because he hand picked you to join this team, don't expect any special treatment or even respect, because at this moment, what you come across as, is a hacker that has charmed and hacked their way into this team. You have to earn our respect. Just like everyone else.**_ "

It was a long soulmate mark, wrapped neatly on her left rib. Sometimes she found herself absently tracing it, when she was alone at night, her body hurting more than she wanted to acknowledge, the thought that there was someone out there who was supposed to be her platonic. Someone who would accept her no matter what (even if the mark indicated otherwise) brought comfort to her, especially when growing up.

There was only ever one foster parent who told Skye to look on the bright side of her soul mark. Mrs. Lane had been one of the nicest foster mothers Skye had ever had, the women had just found out about Skye's soul mark after the young girl shyly showed her what it said. She had taken Skye and pulled her on her lap, held her close and said

" _Look on the bright side, Skye. You're soul mate doesn't instantly like you, now, for most people that would be the most horrifying idea ever. But, think of it this way. You and you're soul mate aren't going to get along straight away. It means you get to build it up. Build up the friendship, the loyalty, the care, the love. If only that is what you and your soul mate want, of course. Don't rush anything when it comes to your soul mate Skye, go with the flow."_

It was the only positive thing that has ever been said about her mark and she tried to keep that image of Mrs. Lane in her head. The loving, caring women who always saw the best in every situation. Not the one lying in her own pool of blood, a gun lying lazily next to her hand.

Skye shook those thoughts of soul mates from her head, as she said, she had given up a long time ago on finding her soul mate. It wasn't as though she was too old or anything, she honestly just believed that she didn't deserve her soul mate, that they would be better off without her. Much like Mrs. Lane.

She stared blankly at the mirror opposite her. This intelligence agency was trying to intimidate her by leaving her to her own thoughts in an empty room for hours on end, hoping that she will be willing to talk by the time they came in. It was lazy interrogation tactics and honestly? She expected better from S.H.I.E.L.D.

It wasn't much longer before the door opened silently and two men walked in. The two that had kidnapped her from her van. One was young and the appeal was certainty there but he seemed like the cold, hardened type of agent. The other was older, he had kind eyes, but his eyes also showed that he had seen some shit. It was interesting, the must be here to play the good cop and back cop game.

She wouldn't crack. She's been in worse situation than experiencing a lazy interrogation.

She raised an eye brow at the older man, waiting for him to talk first, to explain what was going on and what they wanted from her.

"Hi. My name's Phil Coulson and the guy standing, intimidatingly behind me is Agent Grant Ward, and we, would like to offer you job here at S.H.I.E.L.D." Phil Coulson said pleasantly, a smile on his face.

Skye blinked. That is certainly not what she expected. Why would he be offering her a job? It made no sense at all. So she sat forward, indicating that she was interested in what he had to offer.

Coulson nodded, noticing the change in her posture "The pay is good, good benefits as well. It's an interesting job, never a quiet day. Comes with a lot of perks, such as being able to hack agencies and companies without fear of repercussion. All you would have to do, besides the training of course, is tell us about centipede, rising tide and fill out some information about yourself. You see, we weren't able to find anything about you. At all. Nothing. So S.H.I.E.L.D would like to know more about you and centipede and we would be more than happy to hire you."

Skye looked surprise, there was no point in hiding it. Anyone in their right mind would be surprised by this offer. It was slightly suspicious and that, made Skye wary.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Skye piped up "How good is the pay?" She enquired.

Coulson smiled "About $26K, give or take a few hundred. Plus benefits. The joys of working for a top secret intelligence agency."

Skye whistle lightly. That was not a bad pay at all, she supposed it made up for the fact that they could no have ordinary lives, plus they could die at any point in the job.

"So if I accept this offer, all I have to do is tell you about myself and centipede? Then I'll have a good paying job?" She asked, looking suspicious.

Coulson kept the annoying smile on his face "You have to tell us everything about yourself, centipede as well as the Rising Tide and then you will be given the training to become a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, if you pass then you will have the job, if not, then you will have some valuable experience and excellent references for any job you may apply for. Seems like a win-win situation to me."

"Exactly. Too good to be true. What's the catch?" Skye asked, now leaning on her elbows. There seriously must be a catch.

"There is no catch, well, technically the training can be considered a catch because it can be pretty gruelling, but other than that, I can honestly say that I've never dealt a more honest employment offer than this one." Coulson replied honestly.

Skye was silent, mulling it over in her head. She could continue to work for the Rising Tide, on a very little pay (read: none) and be considered a criminal for the rest of her life and continue to think about the potentiality of meeting her soul mate. The other option was to join S.H.I.E.L.D, become an agent and not be considered a criminal and get a decent pay that she could save for an actual house. Not that she didn't love her van, she just missed having somewhere safe to stay with a shower. There was still something that made her curious though...

"What's S.H.I.E.L.D's stand on soul mates?" Skye asked, looking Coulson straight in the eye.

"Complicated. Either your soul mate is in S.H.I.E.L.D or they aren't. Either way, it is complicated. If they are in S.H.I.E.L.D they try putting you on the same team, so long as you both agree to treat each other as you would any other team mate. If not, you face expulsion from S.H.I.E.L.D. If your soul mate is not in S.H.I.E.L.D, then you might often find yourself separated from them and for many that does not work out well and can cause a strain on the bond and prevent it from forming to its fullest potential. Which, as I'm sure you know, can lead to either mental or emotional links. Sometimes both, which is where the other complication of your soul mate being in S.H.I.E.L.D because they could get injured at any point and if your bond is at a high level, then you could be out yourself and we would have two agents down. Complicated. To put it shortly, S.H.I.E.L.D tries to keep soul mates together because we aren't monsters." Coulson finished, clasping his hands together.

Skye sat back and nodded. Okay, so with both organisations she could be with her soul mate if she wanted, however, she would have less of a chance of meeting them if she were S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus the pay was really inciting. Might as well as go with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Skye wondered if people thought she was heartless by choosing S.H.I.E.L.D so that she wouldn't have to meet her soulmate. She shook that thought out her head, she wasn't heartless. She was doing her soulmate a favour. No one would want an emotionally messed up human as their mate.

"Alright then. I'll take you up on your offer." Skye replied quietly.

"Excellent." Coulson replied, grinning.

Skye was sitting in her bunk. She had meet everyone else on the team, minus the pilot. Fitz and Simmons were hilarious and scary at the same time. Everyone on the plane, and in S.H.I.E.L.D too, she gathered, seemed to underestimate the two scientist due to their good nature. These two could probably build a bomb and create a deadly virus from the contents of her room (her room held very little in it. The usual bedroom furniture, some clothes, shoes and her precious laptop). All it would take was something just to make them snap and Skye never wanted to be near them on the day they snapped. However, the banter that the two struck up with each other as they finished each others sentences in a playful argument brought a smile to Skye's face.

Agent Ward was a standoff-ish guy, seemed to regard her and FitzSimmons as harmless children. Probably more of an annoyance than harmless children, now that she thought about it. He kept mainly to himself, was very vocal against her joining but ended up being her S.O and was told to show her the ropes. So she guessed she was going to see a lot more of him than anyone else on this plane.

Coulson was a nice, decent guy. Seemed honest to the heart and was a total dork. Skye thought she would get on pretty well with him, outside of a work environment, because he seemed like a stickler for rules. Soon he would learn that Skye was not and that she liked to do things her own way. For now though, they would get along just fine.

The only person on the team that she has not met yet, was Agent Melinda May. The pilot, a legend, according to Fitz and Simmons. Had a nickname of the Calvary, which caused Coulson to shake his head and a warning of "don't ever let her hear you call her that." It was enough to make Fitz and Simmons go pale in the face. However, it made Skye curious, why was she called the Calvary, and why did she hate it? She was tempted to go looking into her file, but she made a promise to Coulson to not hack their files for at least the first month of her being on this plane. Something about allowing her to build up her own knowledge of them, face to face. Some sort of bullshit like that. She could find out everything she needed to know in the files and then coax more information out of them base on what she got from the files, but she needed to play by Coulson's rules at the moment.

Speaking of which, she should be heading up to his office soon to tell him everything she knew, it was getting pretty late. She might as well attempt to speak to May before heading to his office so that she can say she has had attempted contact with everyone on the team and was trying to become apart of the team, be a team player. Something along those lines anyways.

Moving from bunk, she swiftly glided through the bus in search of Coulson's office and in hopes of finding May. The women seemed stern, unkind and unwelcoming. Skye wasn't sure if that was because she was an outside who has randomly joined their team through sheer dumb luck. Skye guessed she would just have to speak to May first before making anymore judgements on the women's character. She can't say she blames her for being wary of the new person, it's been like that her whole life. Being the new foster kid, the biological kids or even the other fosters kid don't want to share the parents affection and do everything they can to drive her out of the house. Even if it meant framing her so that she would become less desirable to the foster parents. Skye knew the drill. She was not going to let anyone intimidate her out of this. No one.

Looking around, she finally spotted May, a small grin broke out on her face as she made her way to the women.

May turned around as she heard Skye's footsteps and a small scowl appeared on her face at the sight of their newest member. An arrogant hacker who walked about as if she owned the place. She ought to be the one doing her training so she could knock her down to the bottom rung, never mind down a peg or two.

Skye stopped in front of May and opened her mouth to speak, but May seemed intent on speaking first as she quickly raised her hand for silence and cut off whatever Skye was about to say.

" _ **Let's just get this out the way before you open you mouth.**_ _ **Just because he hand picked you to join this team, don't expect any special treatment or even respect, because at this moment, what you come across as, is a hacker that has charmed and hacked their way into this team. You have to earn our respect. Just like everyone else.**_ " May said, snarling lightly as she attempted to install that lesson on the first try. Respect was earned.

Skye froze where she stood, her jaw slack as she tried to comprehend what just happened. Melinda May, agent badass, hard ass, cold ass, just said her words. _Her words._ She now had to options, try and say something to confirm it or run away and never speak to May again...which would be highly impossible because the two of them live on a plane that, whilst spacious and equip with many things, was not big enough to avoid someone for the rest of your life.

She let her mouth flap like an idiot as she tried to say something, to get May to understand that she wasn't being an idiot, she was trying to communicate that May had said her word and it was just no happening.

Maybe it was a sign. Skye had been saying to herself for years now that she didn't need her soulmate, her soulmate would be better off without her, heck, it would be better for the world if they were to never meet. Yet here she was, struggling for words. Was it due to fear or excitement? Skye had no idea, all she knew was that May was scoffing at her, looking at her like she couldn't believe this kid was their new team member.

May started to move backwards, annoyed that Skye had simply just stared at her in shock rather than actually responding to what she said. She gave the girl a weird look before deciding she should head to Coulson's office to have a very lengthy talk about the newest member of S.H.I.E.L.D

Skye started to panic. May was moving away from her and she still hasn't said anything. She tried to think, think of anything that she could say to the women in front of her. Anything at all.

"I-I just, just wanted to know if you knew where Coulson's office was...this place isn't the easiest to navigate and... and I understand, Agent May." Skye stuttered out, forcing to keep her hands at her side instead of reaching for May.

May paused in her backwards stride, her face emotionless as she regarded Skye. Their eyes met as the two of them stared at each other, taking in what just happened. They were soulmates, their words were marked on each other's skin. They were destined to be together, platonically or romantically, it was unclear. The pull was there, there was no doubt about that. After the brain registers the words, the need to complete the bond was almost instantaneous.

The completion of a bond was different for each pair of soul mates, generally they fell into different categories. Sex, touch, understanding, acceptance, warmth, love, gentle. Even with these categories to try and help people understand how they might bond, it was still vastly different for each pair.

May sighed, sliding her weight onto one hip as she broke the silence. "Follow me." she commended, moving away from her, not bothering to check to see if Skye was following her. She didn't need to. Skye was in the back of her mind, she could feel the movements of the girl as she scrambled to catch up with May, a question on the tip of her tongue. "I'm taking you to Coulson's office. We're going to register. This changes nothing. Respect is earned, not given. Even if you are someone's soul mate, you should still earn their respect and trust." May said, cutting off any potential questions Skye may have at the current time.

It was a short walked to Coulson's office but to Skye, it felt like an age. She couldn't stop staring at May. May was hers, just as she was May's. Skye was always led to believe that platonic bonds were dismal in comparison to romantic bonds. She refused to believe that anymore. There was no way a bond between two people could get more intense than this, and they weren't even bonded yet.

It was like she could feel May in the back of her mind. The movements she was making, what direction she was going to turn in and the emotional turmoil that was going on inside her head. It seemed May was fully prepared to not like her until she had shown that she was worthy to be on this team, yet now that it has been revealed that they were soulmates. It seemed as though May wouldn't be able to judge that as well as she initially thought.

The turmoil in May's mind made Skye's heart ache. She wanted to pull the other women into her arms and reassure her that she did not have to change anything about her beliefs on new team members or how she handled them for Skye. That she could treat her anyway she wanted and Skye would understand.

Finally, May came to a stop in front of a door that read 'COULSON' and knocked sharply on the door twice. Not waiting long before Coulson opened it with a smile, only becoming slightly confused and tense when he saw both Skye and May together, both looking rather out of it.

"Come on in" He said, guesting them to come into his office, waving them into the chairs in front of his desk.

Skye sat down sloppily in the chair, unsure of what to do as May simply leaned against the back wall and closed her eyes.

Coulson instantly knew something wasn't right, it was exactly everyday Melinda May leaned against your wall looking like the world feel on her shoulders.

"What happened?" He asked, looking between the two. The guilty, shy face of Skye and the almost emotionless face of his best friend.

"Her. That's what happened" May replied, not even bothering to try and do her usual persona. What was the point? Fighting against the soul mark always ended badly for both pairs and she knew at some point that she and the girl would be close, but right now this is not what she needed. May could have gladly went another 10 years before meeting her soul mate.

Yet, she was a bit excited to finally meet her, as skeptical as she was. It may not have been at the most convenient of times, but it actually happened.

After Bahrain, Melinda wasn't too sure what she was going to do in regards to her soulmate. She was ready to give up on them until Coulson pulled her out of her funk. Showed her the possibilities of being with your soul mate and made her follow him and his two soul mates around to see how they acted together and separately. It put things into perspective. Plus, when Natasha Romanoff tells you that you should attempt to be with your soulmate, you attempt to be with you soul mate.

Coulson looked at Skye and raised an eyebrow.

Skye shrugged "Technically, she's right." She replied quietly, not quite looking at May. Skye could have gladly went another 10 years before meeting her soul mate. A wave of dread and anxiety washed over her. Her soul mate would not want her.

"That did not make this situation any clearer." Coulson remarked dryly.

Both women shrugged in response, cause a silence in the room that seemed to stretch on forever.

"She said my mark" Skye said eventual, her voice small and quiet and avoiding eye contact with both of them, as if she had done something wrong by having May's mark. It certainty felt like it. No one should have her mark. They would be better off without it.

"Oh." Coulson breathed. That was certainly not what he was expecting. "Well then, can't say anyone expected that... You two will need to be registered. Of course I'll get the access restricted." He finished, looking at May for the last part, knowing she would appreciate that more than Skye would.

May simply nodded in reply.

Skye leaned back in the chair, unsure how to proceed with everything. She looked at May and bit her lip. She wasn't exactly going to give this information up but...certain circumstances have influenced her decisions. She reached into her bra, ignoring the bewildered look she was getting from Coulson and the impassive, but slightly curious look from May, and pulled out the USB stick that she kept hidden there and dropped it on Coulson's desk.

"There. Everything about it. Well, everything that is known about me. Name, presumed birthday, orphanage, foster homes, hospital records, police records... everything about me is on that. I know it wont seem like much when you open it but, it is the closest thing I have to finding out some stuff. I ,um, the original reason I got into hacking was to try and find out information on myself...and on... my parents... I know nothing about them and I thought I could find something, somewhere and I did. Only...it was a redacted S.H.I.E.L.D document. Most of the line's are blacked out and I'm not even sure it is about me...but the dates line up from when I was dropped off at the orphanage. So...yeah..." Skye finished awkwardly.

That was not what she meant to say at all. Once she started talking, it was like she couldn't stop. Her eyes flickered to May and decided there and then that it was her fault that she was being so honest. It could be the bond trying to complete itself by making Skye share so much personal detail when May was about.

May and Coulson stared at the usb, glancing at each other before looking at Skye. By the look on her face, they knew instantly that that was not what she meant to tell them.

"I take it, you did not plan on saying all of that." Coulson said calmly, pulling the usb into his grasp.

Skye stayed silent. She knew what he was implying and what the implications of it would mean.

"As you never went through with your original plan, there is no need for punishment. However, if you ever make a deal like this or pull a stunt similar to this again, you'll be out of the programme faster than you can say S.H.I.E.L.D." Coulson threatened gently, aware of May tensing up behind him. It almost pulled a sigh out of him. Almost.

It was clear that the two of them being bonded together was throwing everything off balance. Generally, the only way to fling things back into balance, is by completing the bond. Now, Coulson couldn't exactly force them to complete the bond, however, he can make them spend time together to allow the bond to naturally pull them together.

It was also finally payback time and he couldn't wait to tell her.

"Due to the unseen circumstance of yourself and Agent May being soul mates, you can fill me in on centipede tomorrow. For tonight, and the next few days, you are to spend time with Agent May, learning about the history of S.H.I.E.L.D and it's current agents from her. Think of it as a team bonding exercise. Nothing bonds a team closer than a soul mate bond, right Agent May?" Coulson said, smirking at the last part as he quoted May from an earlier time in their lives.

May rolled her eyes and scowled at him. She would be definitely be having words with him at some point. She knew that he was right, of course, it would be best for everyone on this team if she and Skye spent sometime together. Especially if it motivated them to tell the truth. One of the main reason she was so quiet in Coulson's office.

She pushed off the wall with a curt "yes sir" and walked out the door, grabbing Skye from the chair and pulling her along. The girl stumbled briefly before finding her feet and walking along with May at a brisk pace. May led them through the maze that was the bus. Getting more and more confused by the second, she considered asking May where she was taking her.

"The cockpit." May stated, not even looking back at her.

"Oh." Skye replied. It was a bit weird that May seemed to know what questions Skye was going to ask. Although May would consider it a bit weird if Skye suddenly started showing her how to get to the cockpit. The route to difference places, important places to May, on the bus seemed to be floating innocently into her head. Soulmates were a weird thing.

It wasn't much longer until they reached their destination and May gestured for Skye to sit in the co-pilot seat as she sat down gracefully into the captain seat and began the set up for taking off. The two of them sat in silence until they were level in the sky. Neither of them knew quite what to say.

Skye could feel the hesitancy coming off of May. Skye could feel a few more emotions in the background, but hesitancy seemed to be the most dominant one at the moment. She had no idea how to make things better. They were soulmates, in a top secret spy organisation, one that Skye just joined. She briefly wondered if May was hesitant because she did not know how to tell Skye that she did not want the bond. Maybe that was it.

"If you are hesitant about telling me that you never wanted a soul mate, it's okay" Skye started quietly, not looking at May. "I understand. I never really wanted to me you, no offence. I could have went my whole life without meeting you and I would have never regretted it. Again, no offence." Skye finished, believing that that would have helped to ease the hesitancy, except, it only turned it into sadness and bitterness.

Skye tilted her head towards May in confusion. On the outside, the women looked calm and collected, except, her hands on the steering where too tight and her lips were pursed. Unless that was how May always was when flying, but somehow, Skye doubted that.

"Why." May questioned.

"What?" Skye replied, confused. Why what?

"Why did you never want to meet me?" May explained.

"Oh. Well...I thought you would be better off without me. No one wants me in their life. I just make a mess of it." Skye replied honestly. Stupid bond! She cursed in her head.

"You're judging me. You've known me for a collective 4 hours, and of those 4 hours we have only spoken to each other for about 20 minutes. You are judging me for how I am at work. There is a vast difference between Agent Melinda May and Melinda May. You're assuming that because as an agent I come across as emotionless, hard, uncaring that I would be the same outside of work. I'm not.

For the first 20 years of my life, I watched everyone I knew compare marks, examine them, speculate and meet their soul mates and I thought I was going to be alone. Until your words appeared, okay so age difference. Not such a big deal but I finally had a mark. I was excited. I am excited. We're just in a very complicated situation." May said evenly, turning to face Skye, trying to get the women to understand the sincerity in her words.

Skye was silent. Out of everything she was expecting May to say, that was not one of them. Skye honestly thought May would be one of those people who would reject their soulmate (a bit like herself, she guessed), especially considering the age difference between themselves.

Skye thought this would be easier, rejecting her soulmate, telling them that she didn't want to be apart of their lives. To save them the misery of being with her. Yet know that she has met her soul mate, she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue trying to reject her. Especially after May just told her that she was excited to meet her soulmate. It was like kicking a puppy and that is something Skye things is not often used to describe Melinda May.

"How are we in a complicated situation?" Skye asked quietly, finally speaking up.

"Because I don't know if I can trust you." Melinda replied honestly, turning around her body, making sure to face the women. "Due to the circumstance of how we met, I honestly don't know if I can trust you to be in my life, and not just my professional life, my personal life as well. My life is tied in with S.H.I.E.L.D, my friends and family are S.H.I.E.L.D and not so long ago you had an agenda against us. Even if it was an means to an end, you still had an agenda against my family. Like I said, it's going to take time to build up respect, as well as trust. If you want to go ahead with the bond, I need to trust you first." May finished, staring into Skye's eyes, trying to convey that despite all these problems, she was willing to make it work. She was willing to give Skye a chance to earn her respect and trust and complete the bond.

"I always thought my soul mate did not want me. I thought that they would be just like my foster families. They would either reject me after realising who I was, or on my first looks. A few families had to take me in for emergency fostering. They refused to keep me the night half the time. I just thought you would be the same, based on my words. Yet, here you are telling me that you are excited and that you are wanting to make this work and its...something I never considered before. I always told myself that I would be the one to rejected my soul mate because it would hurt less than if they rejected me... if...if you are wanting to try...I'm willing to as well..." Skye finished slowly and hesitantly. She expected to be alone for the rest of her life. No friends. No family. No soulmate. Yet here was Melinda May, inviting her into all of this.

May allowed a rare smile to appear on her face "So we take things slow?"

"We take things slow" Skye repeated, nodding, feeling a grin appear on her face. Things might be actually looking up for once.

There was a lull of silence between them and Skye fidgeted. Her fingers tingle, ached really, it was spreading all over her body. She wanted to touch May. Not even in a sexual way, just in "I need body contact with you now" type of way.

"We should sleep in the same bed tonight." Skye blurted out, her eyes widening. That is not what she meant to say. Although she wasn't too sure what exactly she was going to say.

May lips curled up. "What happened to taking it slow?"

Skye shrugged, she wasn't sure how she was going to explain the need to May. "It's just, um, a need?" She said, in an attempt to explain the ache, itching that was under her skin.

May nodded "Oh I totally understand, I feel it too. I just wanted to see if you would tell me."

Skye scowled a little "Mean. Thought I was going crazy."

May switched the plane on to auto-pilot for the night before standing up and guesting for Skye to stand up. Smiling when she did as May silently asked.

"Sorry" May offered, gently touching Skye's arms. "Just think of it as one step closer to building trust and respect."

Skye rolled her eyes and took one step closer to May "Or, alternatively, one step closer to sex" she teased, tilting her head at May. Her eyes flickering to her lips before resting at her eyes.

"That too" May breathed. They were supposed to be taking things slow, but the two of them could feel the bond pushing them closer. "I guess we can indulge ourselves tonight. Touch, not sex. Get rid of this itch." May explained.

"Sounds perfect to me." Skye mumbled back, leaning forward and capturing May's lips before either women had another thought to the conversation they were having.

It was perfect.

The two of them pushed themselves closer, trying to deepen the kiss. Their bodies pressed firmly against each others, fitting perfectly. May's hand easily slid around the back of Skye's neck and into her hair as Skye held them securely together with her arms around May's waist. It was sweet and sensual at the same time and Skye thought she would never enjoy anything as much as kissing Melinda May. It was the equivalent of heaven.

The urge to push for more was starting to become over-whelming and so the two broke apart with small gasps. Skye giggled a little and rested her forehead against May's, still holding her tight against her own body, unwilling to lose the contact just yet.

"Still want to sleep in my bed tonight?" May mumbled, letting her hands run down Skye's back to fall on her hips. Skye hummed gently in agreement. The kiss had certainty taken the edge off of the itching under their skin but it was still there.

"Okay, but we still have appearances to keep up. We should probably talk about what we want to do about the team. We can talk about that tomorrow. For now, lets go to my bedroom because I am extremely tired. You are exhausting, you know that?" May joked.

"I'm not exhausting, you are...or the bond is...something is anyways." Skye mumbled back tiredly and allowed May to take lead to her bedroom.

It was a short walk and surprisingly, they didn't run into anyone else. The sudden weight of today's situation weighed down on her like a ton and exhaustion was taking over. She allowed May to take charger and slip her into some pj's. Skye would have made a joke about May seeing the goods before they've even established a relationship, but she could not find herself to care about that. All she wanted right now was a soft bed and a certain Melinda May to cuddle up with.

It wasn't long until May let Skye flop onto the bed as she crawled in with her. The lights were off and May pulled the covers up to encase them in warmth. Skye's back was pressed against the way on the small bed as May pushed back against Skye. She yawned and wrapped an arm around May's waist and nestled her face against her shoulder.

"Never took you for the little spoon" She mumbled, hooking her legs over May's.

"Never figured you were one of those peoples who try to become one with the person they are cuddling." May retorted, holding Skye's hand against her stomach.

Skye had a reply on her lips, but sleep finally took over and her body slumped in it's current position. May yawned, taking in the feeling of being held, allowing the feeling of safety and comfort to lull her into her sleep, a small smile on her face and she was excited about her future for the first time in a very long time. It was certainty going to be something.


	2. Chapter 2

Don't Turn your Back on Me

Chapter 2

May let out a small groan as she woke up. She was quite content where she was and, for once, wished she did not have a training regime to stick to. She was also glad that over the years she has managed to train her body to wake up at a certain rather than relying on an alarm or else Skye would have been awaken by it as well and right now, May did not want to awaken the sleep beauty. Literally, the girl was like a goddess sleeping, how was that even possible?

During the night, the two of them managed to shuffle around on the bed so that they were facing each other, or rather, May turned so she could face the girl in her sleep and ended up holding her tightly. A small switch from the previous night. From small spoon to big spoon.

May lay silently, deciding to put off her training for an hour, reasoning with herself that she would make Skye join in her training and that was the reason for the hour sleep in. It certainly was not because May was quite happy to just stay where she was and watch the girl sleep.

Looking back on the events of yesterday, May was slightly regretting yelling at Skye and telling her that they were going to take it slow, build up the trust and respect between each other. Right now, May would be more than happy to just jump into the happy honeymoon phase she watched Clint, Phil and Natasha go through when the three of them finally got together. It took them a week of protesting, denying that there was two perfect people for them (all three of them were saying this) and it was driving Melinda nuts until she pulled some strings and the three of them went on a "team bonding mission" that Maria Hill had put together.

Turns out May wasn't the only one who was tried of dealing with the three of them whining and moping and silently pinning.

It was a brilliant idea, up until last night when Phil throw her own words back at her. Now she was irritated with him, because it was a totally different situation from him, Natasha and Clint. Totally different, maybe a few similarities with Natasha and Skye, but, the three of them were happy and wanting the relationship. They just needed a push.

With Skye and herself, it was different. Melinda had came to accept the idea that she may never find her soulmate and Skye came on with the idea that Melinda would be better off without her. Completely set against having a soulmate. She was glad when Skye said she would give it a go with May. Another reason to take it a bit slower than normal.

Melinda knew that Skye most likely thought that the reason she wants to take it slow is because she doesn't trust her, doesn't respect her. It couldn't be further from the the truth; if she were to be honest with herself, the only reason she was taking it slow, claiming to build the trust and respect is because Skye was so hesitant about accepting May as her soulmate. So she decided to stay true to her first words to Skye, she has to earn the respect and trust.

What many people don't realise is that Melinda May has a certain about of respect for everyone, you just get more or less depending on your actions. Melinda respected Skye's skills as a hacker, respected her decision to try and turn her life around and join S.H.I.E.L.D, despite the fact that the job was not guaranteed. She respected the fact that Skye wasn't ready to meet her soulmate, yet when she did, she did not crush the hopes and dreams of another person but instead, made a decision that she may have found uncomfortable to make another person happy.

These are things that Melinda May respected about Skye.

However, she will admit that her soulmate was not all perfect, yet, who knows, maybe Melinda will come to love these qualities but right now, the lack of respect for authorities. They way she used her hacking abilities to out delicate information, potentially endanger the lives of her fellow agents and her lack of remorse for this. It rub Melinda the wrong way. Maybe it was due to her training, or maybe it was her morals as she would never release sensitive information like that. Perhaps she might have, if she had not grown up with an agent as a mother, the rules basically had been drilled into her since birth.

Through out her life, her mother tried to change her mind about the career path she was trying to take – becoming an agent. She was not entirely too sure about which agency she had wanted to choose when growing up. She knew that with her skills, she could have her pick.

Then her mother introduced her to Peggy Carter, co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. The newest intelligence agency, or as Melinda soon called it, the mother of all agencies. Peggy had first met Melinda at the tender age of 10 and ever since then, she has been encouraging the girl, being sly and subtle about convincing the girl to join her agency. One of the big convincers that Peggy used was that she would never been under the command of her mother, that at S.H.I.E.L.D, people would not make the connection between Lian May, future head of the CIA and Melinda May, future S.H.I.E.L.D specialist.

Much to her mother's frustration, she went with S.H.I.E.L.D. Mainly to get away from her mother's legacy but it was also due to a nagging feeling in her mind. She knew she had to become a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. It was something that her mother never understood, but when she tried explaining the feeling to Peggy, the women smiled and nodded in understanding.

"I know exactly how you feel, darling." She had said, a knowing smiled on her face as she talked to 18 year old Melinda May.

After telling Peggy that, she must have informed her mother of what she said as the older women stopped nagging Melinda about becoming a spy (her mother wanted her to have an ordinary, civilian life. If she couldn't do that, then she would damn well be a spy under her, where she can watch out for her.) and had actually started giving her useful information. Told her that if she was going to join S.H.I.E.L.D, she was not going to embarrass her when the truth eventually got out about her parentage (it never did).

Ever since then, Melinda has been working herself hard to become one the best agents S.H.I.E.L.D has ever seen. Of course, to the instructors in the Academy, it must have seen like the opposite with all the pranks she pulled on the rest of her classmates. In her defence, they were all racist and sexist pigs and she put them in their place. Till this day, she claims that her pranks helped to break down on sexism and racism within the work place. If Melinda May heard you say shit like that, you got a very painful prank that generally involved public humiliation.

Everything seemed to be going fine for the first two years, she was the top of her class in academy after finishing it in only two years and was just about to become a level 1 S.H.I.E.L.D agent when her mark appeared. It was during her induction day, she was standing in line, feet shoulder length apart and her hands in an easy embrace behind her back. She was proudly wearing the S.H.I.E.L.D uniform for the first time and was highly looking forward to the after party. Despite now being spies, the majority of them were in their 20's and still enjoyed a night out. It was then, during the legendary speech that Director Carter was giving, that she felt the burning sensation on her ribs. It took all she had to stop herself from yelling in pain, instead she gritted her teeth in pain in an attempt to stop herself from yelling or moving. She had waited out the pain of each letter slowly burning into her skin, using her training to focus on what Peggy was saying rather than the pain on her ribs, however, it was turning out quite impossible as she found herself completely ignoring the speech and her breathing becoming slightly laboured.

Never in her life had she wanted Peggy Carter to stop talking.

It felt like an age before she was able to get home, completely ditching the after party in order to examine the words on her skin, hiding in the bathroom, away from her parents;

" _ _I-I just, just wanted to know if you knew where Coulson's office was...this place isn't the easiest to navigate and... and I understand, Agent May__ _"_

 _She had stood and stared at it forever, trying to understand the words, trying to take in what was written. She had spent a lot of that time just simply tracing the tender words with her finger tip. Her mouth hanging open in awe as she took in her mark. She had a soulmate and that made her grin._

 _It also had something to do with her dorky friend Coulson from academy, he had two soul marks, one when he was born and got the other when he was 10 years old. Which reminded Melinda as she reflected on the moment, the bastard never told her how much it hurt to get the soul mark when you weren't born with it._

 _She managed to keep her soul mark a secrete from her family and her organisation for a whole, miraculous 2 hours. That night her mother had invited Peggy around to dinner to get information on how the introduction day went for her new agents. Melinda had been so stupid at the time to think that Peggy Carter would not notice when one of her new recruits was in pain and had enquired about it at the dinner table, which of course, led Melinda to revealing her soul mark._

 _Peggy had sat back smugly and looked at Lian and said "I told you so."_

 _Melinda sighed as she remembered the days of academy, of getting her shield badge, of becoming an official agent, of getting her soul mark. It had been a grand day that she would never forget and 20 years later, she has finally met her soul mate._

 _Who was still slumbering next to her peacefully. Cute._

 _Melinda glance at the clock and watched it tick closer and closer to 6 am. She supposed she should get up and get ready to start Tai Chi. As well as prepare for the task of waking up Skye. It didn't take much effort as she fell into her normal routine of getting ready and it wasn't long until she was shaking Skye's shoulder to wake her up as the girl had not responded to Melinda calling her name._

 _Skye_ groaned and rolled away from Melinda's offending hand and mumbled out a quiet "five more minutes."

"No. You need to get up now." May responded calmly, pulling Skye away from the wall and trying to move her to the cold floor.

"May, nooo, seriously, let me sleeeeeep. Get back in bed. It was warm and cosy." Skye complained, but rolled over with the motion of May's hand to look at the women.

May was looking down at Skye with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. Skye figured this would not be last time that May gave her that look. What also caught Skye's attention was that she was wearing some very well fitted clothes. It was a simplistic look of a black tank top, black leggings and no doubt running shoes to match the look. Or maybe she was barefoot. Either way, Skye found herself staring much longer than she planned as well as much lower.

May cocked her hip and raised an eyebrow at the young women lying in her bed. She was not subtle in the art of checking someone out "Skye. My eyes are up here. Not at my ass."

Skye looked up, flushing lightly "Sorry May. Boundaries, but um, wow. Nice outfit. It complements your figure very much. So, uh, why, uh, did you get me up so early?"

May pursed her lip, amusement in her eyes but she was attempting to appear professional "We are going to start some of your training. Ward will be doing most of it, however, you will be waking at 5am every morning to - "

Skye sat up with a loud gasp, her mouth agape "It's 5 am?! What the hell?"

May rolled her eyes "Don't be so ridiculous Skye, it's 6 am. Given the time we fell asleep at last night, you shouldn't experience too much fatigue today. You better get used to it, because in a weeks time I'll start having you up and ready to start your training at 5. Now, as I was saying, you'll start your mornings at 5am with me in the hanger learning Tai Chi. It will help centre yourself and allow you to learn fluid movement and flexibility that you can carry on to your training with Ward. He will be your Supervising Officer, S.O. I'm simply just adding a little extra help. S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't allow soul mates to answer to each other, fearing that it may cause an imbalance of power in the work place as well as in our personal lives, which would effect our work. Any questions?" May finished.

Skye raised an eyebrow "I'm going to hate training, aren't I?"

"Yes, now come on, we are losing time. We have some S.H.I.E.L.D issued training clothes for you. Get changed. I'll wait outside." May informed Skye with a smirk. It was also nice to help out in training, to make the new starters feel the pain that she herself experienced during training. She waited outside for Skye, not waiting long as the girl appeared moments later.

"Alright then, lets do this Tai Chi thing." Skye said with a small smile, glancing at May.

May nodded "Tai Chi then boundaries talk."

"Tai Chi then boundary talk. Sounds like a plan." Skye confirmed, following May to the training area with a small smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Don't Turn your Back on me

Chapter 3

Training was hell. It has been one month since that faithful day when Melinda had awakened her from her peaceful slumber. Quite rudely, she might add. The month had flown in on the bus. Skye had been doing all sorts of stuff. Namely making sure she had a job at the end of all of this...and maybe a soulmate... it's a work in progress.

The month was spent waking up at five am every morning to do Tai Chi with Melinda for an hour before doing hand-to-hand combat and muscle building with Ward for three hours till nine am and then they would go to a mission debriefing or update themselves on their current mission. Do their current mission, generally finish what they need to do by five or six pm and then some dinner. During her busy day she also has to try and find time to study the history of S.H.I.E.L.D, learn about the important figures in S.H.I.E.L.D, study old cases and their solutions to see how that could still be used today as well as keep up her hacking skills and still have time to mingle with Melinda outside of work.

It was exhausting.

She found herself either in her own bed, or Melinda's, or the couch, sometimes it's the cockpit. Skye was pretty sure that she has fallen asleep on top of the mini bar once with a untouched bottle of beer beside her. Honestly, she was just getting sleep where she could, thats how she ended up sleeping in Melinda's bed more often than not. Not because things were going good for them, but because Skye always talked to Melinda in either the cockpit or her bedroom and sitting down and relaxing automatically just lulled Skye into a sleep nowadays.

Skye did not have a single doubt in her mind that Melinda was going to start waking her up every time she dozed in the cockpit or her bed because she is going to pick up on the fact that Skye basically sleeps whenever she relaxes and that is not a good thing for an agent to do. It's a bad habit. Skye's trying to pull herself out of it before Melinda and Ward team up to break her of the habit because no matter what, you can bet its going to be painful for Skye and fun for them and she does not want to give them that satisfaction.

Other than the exhaustion and back breaking training, it's been interesting and fun. Seeing how S.H.I.E.L.D works as an intelligence agency, learning about their history and missions that they have went on to literally save the world without any recognition or it even being acknowledge on the alphabet agency levels. It was insane, but it gave Skye a different perspective of the agents. You hear how a lot of the agents in the alphabet agencies like to do it for the glory, for the recognition, bragging rights, that sort of stuff. Yet, here in S.H.I.E.L.D, one of the biggest rewards seems to be going on an even more dangerous level or more than three days off. Sometimes Skye came across agents getting a raise in levels when they go on a mission that is better suited for a higher level.

When she enquired about it with May, she explained that when an agent goes on a mission like that, if they can complete the mission successfully without all the intel and having to think on their feet then they should be doing missions at the level normally as they should thrive with the intel and having the necessary preparation.

Makes sense, so Skye had basically summarised that all agents were secretly wishing for a mission like that to up their level, up their access to information on the system. It would literally be like hitting oil. Something like that anyways, the more she read into this the more she thought everyone in this agency were simply adrenalin junkies. They got bored of doing the normal stuff that gives you that rush, like climbing a mountain, sky diving, parkour. This stuff was like the norm on their mission, they wouldn't even bat an eyelash at in anymore.

It still made Skye shiver with anticipation and excitement at what she still had to learn. Also made her twitch. No doubt she would be in endless pain until training was over. At least running did not hurt as much. That was an upside, she was now confident she could outrun any threat coming her way. Also the fact she was developing abs was a bonus and she was going to show off to May once they were impressive enough.

Of course, the biggest downfall to all this was that she couldn't have her usual junk food diet. No chocolate, no fast food of any sorts, no crips, no junk food at all. She wasn't even allowed milkshakes! Milkshakes! The lack of sugar make her grumpy, according to Fitz and Simmons. It caused them to sneak her chocolate here and there whenever she started getting to grumpy. Even Coulson joined in on this, a little smirk and wink and his eyes would flicker to May and Ward before sliding her the sugar filled food.

She was hoping that this week one of them has picked up on the fact that she has been moaning for milkshakes. May and Ward were getting pissed that she kept asking for one and would make her do more push ups, pull ups or squats in the morning. So yeah, they better have picked up on it.

Still, despite the horrible training and lack of sugar, the missions have been pretty interesting. They went back for Mike Peterson, out him into the Academy to help him harness the new abilities he has. They put his son, Ace, in with his Aunt and cousins and let him talked to his father once a day. They weren't monsters after all. According to the lectures at the academy (their highly classified notes that Skye innocently hacked into) the man seemed to be thriving with the opportunity to do something good, and paint himself in a new light for his son.

That was also when Skye found out that the team she was on had only just formed and that she was technically their first mission. She teased them all relentlessly about that, till the point May kicked her out room with a quick swat to her butt and smirk from May when Skye turned around, looking scandalised. The women simply blow her a kiss and shut the door in her face.

There next few missions involved them going to Peru in a rebel filled area, to investigate an 0-8-4. It resulted in several interesting conversations with Melinda.

" _So, what's an 0-8-4?" Skye had asked as she flopped into the co-pilots chair, looking with distant interest at the planes instrument._

 _Melinda had switched on auto-pilot as she always did for Skye when she had questions, she had said it was to make sure Skye had all the information she needed and more. The women swivelled in her chair with a small smile that she kept exclusive for Skye and launched into an explanation of an 0-8-4; "An 0-8-4, quite simply, is an object of unknown origins. Unknown origins, unknown quantities, technically you could be classed as an 0-84, we don't really know much about you." Melinda teased, bumping knees with Skye "The first 0-84 was discovered by the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D, Peggy Carter, after one of her many raids on the Hydra bases. Capture any lingering traces of the organisation. It was locked away, I'm sure there is a file in one of the S.H.I.E.L.D bases on the original 0-84. I'll see if I can find it for you. Any questions?" Melinda finished._

" _Yeah, so if you know nothing about an 0-8-4, how do you handle it? Like what if it's something poisonous or contains something like sex pollen, by the way, I saw on a file on that and really? Something like that exist, like wow, can't believe S.H.I.E.L.D scientist created something like that, I mean, imagine you were stuck in the roo-"_

 _Skye began, staring on her slowly becoming infamous tirades on information she has found out from old cases._

" _Skye, you don't want to go down that line. Yes sex pollen exist and there is two rules when it comes to it, three now technically, which reminds me. I will need you to get some forms filled out. 1st rule, we don't ask if anyone has been affected by it. Unless for medical reasons. 2nd rule, we don't talk about sex pollen and what if's. Ever. 3rd rule, everyone has to have a form filled out incase you get infected by sex pollen. Some of the situations are sensitive and a lot of people don't want talk about it. Imagine having sex with someone and it was completely against your, and their, wills and there wasn't anything you could do to stop it. Imagine some of the situations where you soul mate has to watch. See, sensitive? So its a general rule of don't ask, don't tell, fill out the form._

 _Now that that is covered, we handle 0-8-4's we great care. Always wear gloves and mask when initially handling it, we don't know how it will react when we either move or touch it. Then we examine it the best we can and determine why it was created and either send it to the fridge, which I hope you have read up upon, or we send it to the sun if it's too dangerous." Melinda concluded._

It had been an enlightening conversation with May, not only getting answers about the procedures for 0-8-4's but also fricken sex pollen. She still couldn't believe that that existed. Insane.

Well, what was more insane and totally awesome was that on that mission, Skye got shot in the arm. Nothing too serious, just a bit deeper than graze. She had barely felt it with all the adrenalin rushing through her in their attempted to take the bus back after it had been over run. She had just opened up the life raft and dove down to grab Ward as the gun was fired. If she hadn't moved to grab Ward, she would most likely be dead right now.

Turns out that was not something Melinda liked to hear.

The end results of that mission was Skye being yelled at by Coulson, Simmons, Ward and May. Coulson and Simmons because they are worriers. Ward because he was annoyed at the thought of Skye saving him and May, well, May yelled because she was angry at Skye, which turned out to be because she was apparently, to quote "God damn it Skye, I was worried like shit for you when they took over and I left you in Ward's care and you still got shot?!"

Skye tried to defend the wound and her actions, but to no avail. Melinda made her sleep in her room that night. Her arms wrapped tightly around Skye as her body shook a little. Skye knew Melinda a lot better at this point and knew not to bring it up. She would talk about it when she was ready. She simply let Melinda hold her for comfort and she wasn't going to lie, it did bing comfort to herself as well. Once the adrenalin had worked it's way through her system, she found herself gripping Melinda's arms. Skye was exhausted and was simply listening to her body's needs, which was cling tightly to Melinda until you feel better and it worked.

Of course, like usual, the two of them woke up and pretended that they never slept in each other's arms. Again. They had gotten up, did Tai Chi as usual, letting the motions calm them and centre themselves for the day ahead of them. Again. Went their separate ways after that and had minimal contact. Again.

It felt like they were in a loop and Skye wasn't sure whether or not she was relieved about this. On one hand, she never really wanted to indulge in a soulmate because she thought they would be better off. On the other, she had definitely seen a small change in Melinda since the two of them had met. First of all, she started pranking again and kept blaming it on Skye. Coulson had been the one to tell her that May used to play pranks all the time and when May and Barton (aka Hawkeye) got together, people tended to stay clear of them as the two would play pranks and from what Skye could gather from Coulson's reminiscing, act extremely unprofessional and carefree.

The boundary talk that they had set the tone for their relationship. It make Skye skittish, Melinda was coming into this relationship with rules about what she could do and what she could not. What she could say about their relationship, and what she could not. Skye understood the importance of privacy in regards to soulmates, especially if your soulmate is known as the cold and heartless Calvary. May simply said she did not like people she did not trust knowing about her personal life and about those she cares for. Unfortunately for her, Coulson does not hide his affections for May very well and most people in the agency knew that to get to May, you had to get to Coulson. More than once that had been used against May and apparently, she did not want it happening to Skye. Which Skye understood, but she was still annoyed that she couldn't tell Simmons or Fitz. Skye was not going to tell her science friends about May until they were sure what their relationship was, which Skye thought she would know after the boundary talk.

She did not.

From the talk that she had with May, when in their bunks and cockpits they could talk freely and touch each other however they please (with consent, of course). In front of others, they were simply senior and junior agent to each other. Melinda had apparently took it upon herself to give them the cover of her being one of Skye's trainer, which allowed May to act differently towards Skye than the rest of the team and would explain strange behaviours. Skye thought it was a genius plan, but she was still upset that they had to go through all these hoops to just spend time together.

Another part of the boundary talk was that they had to be honest with each other, and that if they did not want to answer a question that they other had, they were to simply let each other know that they did not want to discuss it with them at this time and that should be that last of it. Also, if Skye had any questions about S.H.I.E.L.D, Melinda would answer them, so long as it was within Skye's level of classification ( _"Please May, I could just hack the information if I wanted it!" "You do that and I'll put a bracelet on you that stops all electronics that you touch." "...I will not hack S.H.I.E.L.D" "Good girl.")_

All in all, what Skye could summarise from the talk was that in private they could do whatever they wanted; ask any questions she wants and she will get a honest answer and last, do not discuss her relationship with May to anyone, except Coulson and lastly, they are just to get to know each other. If at any point Skye, or May, decided that this isn't something that they want, then it was okay to stop and

Should be easy enough to follow.

Honestly, it was and it was working out well for them. They were getting along okay, they were finding out more about each other, their likes, dislikes and limits. Skye never thought this day would come, the day were she was willing around her soulmate 24/7 and getting to know them. It seemed like some weird dream, but ever since she met Melinda, it was like something clicked. The comfort of her quiet thoughts at the back of her brain, so quiet she can't hear but she can _feel_ Melinda with her. It was...nice. It was nice knowing that there was another person that you could potentially be so in tune with, that you could know what they were thinking.

Yet...she was not sure if she wanted this to go anywhere. It was nothing against Melinda, okay maybe a little, but more to do with the concept of soul mates.

One of her foster homes, it was one of the ones where everything just went wrong and Skye simply referred to as the wrong stop over. In this wrong stop over, the couple had been soulmates. Yet they would scream and hit each other constantly. Not in a fun teasing way, in a "I'm-trying-to-kill-you" type of way. They never pulled their punches.

Skye got caught in the crossfire.

A lot.

Sometimes, that is what it took to stop hitting each other, they would hit Skye and the two of them would be happy, they wouldn't be fighting and that is what soul mates were supposed to be. To a young, impressionable Skye, that's all she wanted. The dream of being with someone who would love you no matter what, so she let them hit her, so they could have that dream too. She wanted them to be happy, that way they might adopt her. It was a possibility until they stabbed each other to death in one of their fights, leaving Skye standing in a puddle of blood as she shakily called 911 and let them know what had happened.

It was not a a pleasant stop over. It was her first experience of seeing soul mates go wrong, the first of many. Broken soul mates. Broken homes. Broken Skye.

Logically, Skye knew that she and her soulmate would never resort to violence to try and get along, but they fear was there. What if she was the one wailing on a little kid, who had done nothing wrong, so that she could happily be with her soul mate? All the what if's made her hesitate. She knew it was stupid still let it affect her but the sights she saw were very hard to forgot.

Yet... in all the dark thoughts and memories she held of broken homes and faulty soul mates. She held a little hope, that maybe her connection to her soul mate would be good and pure. That they would eventually get a long and everything would click into place, if she would just accept the fact that she has a soulmate who is willing and ready to love her. That it might be different, that she would do a "monkey see, monkey do."

She was not sure if she should go and voice her worries to someone, but the only person she could, or rather, wanted to voice them to was FitzSimmons, but May asked her not to discuss anything with them. So she was left to mull over her thoughts by herself and hope for the best.

Another thing that has been bothering her since she arrived on the bus was Ward. She found him cool at first, but the more time she spent with him, the more creepy she found him. He was always brushing his hands against her back and with each brush of the hand, it got lower and lower. He was almost at the waistbands of her jeans. Couple that with the staring and missing clothes and you've got a completely freaked out Skye.

She was not sure what his deal was or why he was stealing her clothes (and she was positive it was him, she had asked May if the women had taken any of her clothes, only to receive a raise eyebrow) all she knew was that it was not normal. Once again, she found herself wondering if she should inform Coulson or May about this. It could be just a misunderstanding, but just in case it wasn't, Skye wanted to leave it as it is until she is better in her training so that if it does turn to violence, she can at least defend herself. It was shame he was acting like this, because he was a nice guy to hang out with.

Right now, however, she couldn't dwell on her developing relationship nor the weirdness that is Ward because they were on their way to England. Where Thor had arrived to save the English from some alien, however in his rescuing, he did not think about the destruction he had caused and how it was going to get cleaned. So it meant S.H.I.E.L.D were on cleaning duty and sadly, S.H.I.E.L.D 616 got drafted into playing clean up for the day. Fitz and Simmons were happy because they got to check out any left over alien technology, plus they were in their home country. A win-win for them. For everyone else? Not so much... at least it should be a easy going mission, according to Coulson.

They were in England for all of two seconds before they were reassigned to another mission in Norway. At least it was not as long as a plane ride as the ride to England was. For the journey she sat in the cockpit with May, only to get away from Ward's stares. The two of them sat in silence, simply enjoying the company and the view before the landed in Norway and make a trek through the woods to get to their current location.

"So theses people came to a national park, to cut down a tree to take something out of it?" Skye questioned, slowly circling the fallen tree, a tablet lying lazily in her hands as she did a surf of the web to find their culprits and find what they have taken.

"What makes you think they have taken something and not just cut down the tree to look at the carvings?" Ward questioned, causing Skye to roll her eyes. This must be some bullshit S.O question to make sure she wasnt making assumptions but was actually checking out the surroundings.

"Because the indent in the tree is on both halves, and both halves curve in the way. Not flat, like it would have been if it was simply a carving. So something was hidden in there, probably since the tree was a sapling or something. Grew around it from in the ground?" Skye asked aloud to the scientist of the group.

"Well, you aren't wrong about it being an object, from the images I have, it looks like a staff, of course I would have to take this information back to the lab. Could probably make a 3-D model of it, right Fitz? Should give us better information as to the specs of the possible staff and allow us to put a search in the system to see if we get a match" Simmons replied, slowly walking off the tree branch with Ward watching out for her.

"Well, at least it is a start. Good work guys. Lets get back to the bus and go from there." Coulson said, leading the way back to the bus.

Skye fell behind the group, slowly matching May's pace and the two of the walked together back to the bus, their hands occasionally brushing.

This was going to be an interesting mission, she could just feel it in her bones. Something big was about to happen.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Hi, not dead, just moved from Scotland to Australia a few months back, in like June and then I got a full time job where I am out the house for 12 hours, for 5 days a week, so you can assume my life has been pretty hectic trying to get settled! But I'm back (hopefully) just easing myself back in so it won't be weekly updates but it wont be months between them. For those interested in operations shadows, if you haven't read, i'm read writing it,re-written about 3 chapters so far and added a lot more content, so that will be going up next week or so, okay?_

 **Don't Turn Your back on Me**

Melinda knew she was in trouble when she felt the searing anger soar through her body, a million miles away, yet so close. It was her anger, her rage, yet it wasn't. The unfocused rage, bringing unwanted memories to the front of her mind, it makes her want to lash out in a fit of anger and desperation. Yet. It wasn't hers. It wasn't her anger that was coursing through her veins, it was her memories, yes, but it was as if they were jumbled with someone else's.

Skye's.

When the professor told that the berserker staff caused the wielder to experience an anger unlike anything they ever experience before, he was not lying. She turned to look at Skye who looked caught of guard as she stared in horror at the staff in her hand, frozen in the terror of her own memories. Melinda stood there, frozen with her, their hearts slowing to the same rhythm. Despite them seemingly acting as one, she knew there was nothing she could do to help her. They had been slowly growing closer, Skye pulling away at every opportunity she got, only to reappear again silently, watching her fly the plane in the safe haven of the cockpit.

It was difficult, and in this moment, Melinda wish she had pushed the bond further, forced Skye to realised that this is something good, that she can shower her in love and lover her for all her faults and stupid quirks that make her smile when no one is around. That she would continue to love her, even if she decided S.H.I.E.L.D was not for her, that she wanted to go back to the Rising Tide. Melinda would still fight for her and that was never going to change. If she had made the younger girl realise this, then maybe the rage she was feeling, the anger, loneliness, the deep rooted sadness that the girl has constantly dealt with, would not hurt her has much. Maybe it would not hurt as much if she was more aware of how she will always have someone that will fight for her and support her no matter what she decides to do.

If only Melinda had not said those words. If only she pushed Skye that little further into realising their relationship could be a wonderful thing. If only...

Melinda shook her head to clear the roaming thoughts. She could not afford to lose focus right now, what she needed to do was focus on a way to help Skye without touching that staff. Without following her down the rabbit hole of rage.

She watched as Skye slowly looked away from the staff, raising her head to look Melinda directly in the eyes, a snarl on her face. Oh no. Skye's mouth open, twisted with teeth glinting as she prepared to hurl either herself or hurtful words in her direction. Melinda was not quite sure what was going to happen, but the deep hatred she saw on Skye's face caused her to freeze again. Her body tensed and her heart ached as she watched her soul mate regard her with such hatred that she was sure could kill her if Skye continued to look at her like that. She swallowed thickly, taking a step forward to her rookie and to her soulmate.

"Skye" She said cautiously, holding her hands up, her body in a half crouch as she walked closer to her. "Put the staff down, please?" Melinda honestly was not sure if this would enrage her more, or help to calm her down.

What neither of them was expecting in that moment was one of the targets they were fighting to lose focus with Ward and charge at Skye, knocking her off her feet with a screech, causing Skye to forget about May. Skye snarled in response to the attacked as she moved with a seemingly practised ease, movingly fluidly with the movements of their target. Melinda watched, partially horrified with how aggressive they were being with each other. It was like watching two rabid dogs fight over the last piece of meat as they used every dirty tactic in the book to try and kill each other.

So she decided to do what every other reckless agent would do. She was going to go in the middle of the fight and pull them apart. With a deep breath, she charged into the middle of the rabid humans, hoping to achieve the best possible outcome.

Her plan of attack went about as well as pouring water on a grease fire, aka, it went terrible and caused things to be much worse. She went in, dodging Skye's swinging arm and went in for swift, precise hits that barely seemed to affect their target. Then, for a split for seconds, she was fighting both Skye and the other girl before Skye seemed to realise what she was doing. They had both gotten some very painful hits in, mainly to her stomach and shoulders. She was grateful Skye realised what she was doing when she did or else she might be in the ICU ward in some S.H.I.E.L.D base for extensive damage.

No, instead they were sitting like reprimanded children in the deputy director's office as she glared down at them all. Apparently their way of dealing with the situation was not ideal, caused too many casualties (after the fight in the church, they lost one of their targets who went on a further rampage and destroyed some historic building) and had the government upset over the lose of the historic building and were trying to blame S.H.I.E.L.D, not that they actually knew it was S.H.I.E.L.D but they knew that they were American's and that was enough for them.

Melinda's body ached, Coulson had his arm in a sling, Fitz and Simmons had a few scratches on them, Ward looked bored as he regarded Hill and Skye sat like a zombie, her head down and for once, was not fidgeting. It worried Melinda more than it should, which is why she was trying to catch Maria's attention as she ranted at the ramifications of their actions. She sat and continuously singed for Maria to send FitzSimmons and Ward out so she can help Skye, who was getting worse.

Eventually Maria looked over at her, carefully watching Melinda's hand as she took a paused in her lecture.

A deep breath "Ward, go to medical, that's an order and if I don't get confirmation that you've been there and went through every examination and test they want to put you through then you will receive seriously disaplinary actions. FitzSimmons, you are dismissed, Agent Fitzgerald was asking after the two of you to help with a current project of hers. After that, you all have a two day stand down to recover. Dismissed." Maria said promtly, leaving no room for someone to get round her orders.

All three agents nodded, as they begand to leave. Ward lingered at the door.

"Shouldn't Skye go to medical?" he questioned with a look in his eyes that made Melinda frown. It almost seemed possessive. That would not do, she would have to make it clear that Skye was off limits to him.

Maria glared at him "If I wanted Skye to go to medical, I would have told her so. Did I tell her to go medical Agent Ward?" she asked coldly, staring him down.

Ward glared back as he responded "No."

"No, what?"

"No, ma'am."

"That's better. Now, Agent Ward, if I were you, I'd leave. Before I really lose my temper with your attitude." Maria said, her face said it all. She was angry with the way Ward was direspecting her, in her own office of all places. He would no doubt face further ramifications later on through some subtle way. Maria was cruel in her punishments that did not seem like punishments. So much so, that Fury actually changed everyone's contracts to allow some of the things she does, that way no one could complain, after all the agreed to it. Somehow, they did not lose a single agent.

Maria sat down with a sigh, softly moving her fingers against the side of her head before looking at May with a raised eyebrow.

"Any reason I had to do that?" She questioned, looking slightly amused. "Also, I hope you know the only reason I did that was because you were my S.O, if it was anyone else, I think I'm at the point where I would just shoot you."

Melinda rolled her eyes fondly, a small smile on her face as simply tilted her head to the zombie next to her. Skye had not moved, only the frown her face deepening with every passing second. Maria looked slightly confused, something which Coulson picked up on.

"Have you not read any of the personal files I've sent to you?" Coulson asked, looking slightly exasperated.

"If it was important, I assumed you would simply just phone and tell me." Maria replied promptly, still close off, still guarded.

"Well, you're in for a real shock." Coulson replied simply, just content to take the situation as it goes. "Is Natasha and Clint here?" he questioned, tilting his head in the way the Melinda has come to mean that he already knows the answer to that, at least one of them were here and he wanted to see them. She really did not want to hear Coulson and Maria gush quietly about their soulmates that they would no doubt do. Not when her own was so clearly hurting.

She turned her chair to face Skye's, slowly dragging the girl's chair to face her. She gently place a finger under chin and pulled her chin up so that their eyes could meet.

Huge, watery, brown eyes met her own cold, and calm ones. The two stared briefly at each other as Skye seemed to get more distressed. She moved her finger from Skye's chin to cup her cheek.

"I'm not mad at you." She whispered simply, stroking Skye's cheek with her thumb, hoping to calm her down. "I promise." she added on, hoping it would convince the girl.

Skye shook her head, a tear falling down. "I-, I wa-...I was so ma-, mad at you." she chocked out. " I was just so mad at you, May, and it was because, because you keep, keep being by my side... after, after I do, always after I do wrong. I do wrong and you're still there." Skye jumbled out,so upset that she was not getting the words in the right order.

"It's okay. I understand, I really do." Melinda whispered, not wanting to go further into why she was okay, knowing that if she started explaining too much, too soon to her in this state, it would just make everything worse.

"The anger is still there." Skye admitted quietly, after a long silence. "It's still here and I feel horrible every time I look at you. I want to yell at you. Tell you to forget about me. That you're being stupid."

Melinda felt her heart catch in her throat. Skye was not mad because Melinda had done something wrong, she was mad because she thought that Melinda could do better than her for a soul mate. That made her heart break a little. She wasn't sure if Skye thought Melinda could do better because she thought so little of herself, or if it was because Skye never really planned on meeting her soulmate if she could help it. It would have been much easier to avoid her soulmate if she was in a situation where she could flee easily and not have to return there, but when you meet your soulmate in your work, in a close quarters, high in the sky, there wasn't much place to hide. You had no choice but to face your soul mate, and that was not something Skye was ready for. Not yet. Melinda understood that, she really did. If she met Skye after Bahrain, she would be in the same position. It was because that Melinda understood that, it made it easier and more determined to show her soulmate what could be, that this can be something worth more than any amount of money. Something that was so priceless and something that everyone deserved the chance to have. It helps you grow as a person, change your ways from bad to good.

It was something Skye needed, but it would not be what she needed if she was not ready and that's what Melinda got. Which is why they started small. Which was why, instead of taking Skye to her bedroom and worshiping the girl, she simply tugged her gently in her arms, curling up on the chair together as she slowly rubbed circles on the girl back. Hoping that the quiet sobs would stop soon.

She looked at Maria, who was watching her calmly and nodded softly.

"Glad you found her." She said quietly, leaning back in her chair as she regarded Skye quietly.

"Me too." Melinda responded, just as quiet. There was no point really, Skye was right beside them and could hear everything they were saying.

Maria nodded, not wanting to get into more with Skye here and in the state she is in. She sat back in her seat, closing her eyes, looking younger than she is, vulnerable. Everyone forget how old Maria is. She acts in such a way you believe that she is older than is, able to handle the shit storm that is S.H.I.E.L.D and deal with the other agencies and have little to no social life and just have it all roll off her back. It takes a lot out of the young women, and after the melt down she had a few years ago, their make shift family decided to stop shitting around, pull their act together and try and get everyone else to do so as well to make it easier on the women.

"You're staring again." Maria said, opening her eyes as she sat forward, the face of Deputy Director Maria Hill back in place. "I guess this is a good of time as any to take my lunch. Promised Sharon that we would have lunch together, hope she doesn't mind a few extra people, and yes Phil, I'll make sure she grabs Natasha as well." She tagged on after she watched Phil open his mouth.

He smiled happily at Maria as she rolled her eyes. The two of them had a weird relationship and it was cute to watch sometimes, they often acted like siblings. Melinda assumed it was a back flow of the close relationship that Maria had with Natasha. The two women often acted like soulmates and it was very off putting for everyone in the family, especially when the two communicated through looks, or when Maria would simply touch Natasha's arm and then that was the whole conversation. It was a huge blow up between the two set of soulmates. Clint and Phil were furious with Maria, often going out of their way to make things difficult for her and Sharon would blame Clint, Phil and Natasha and refused to acknowledge Natasha's presence when she was just starting out in the make shift family.

Of course it had all been extremely awkward for herself as she was the only one with no soul mate. Thankfully they all made up after two weeks as it was all explained and things went back to normal, Sharon and Natasha actually became quiet close as well. They bonded over fond memories of Peggy Carter.

"You're getting lost in your thought again." Coulson comment, watching the way Melinda would just zone out of the conversation.

"I guess." She supplied, not really wanting to get into it right now. Coulson nodded his acceptance of the answer and they all made small talk as they waited on lunch.

Melinda simply held Skye, the girl had stopped the silent sobs, simply holding on tightly to Melinda's shirt as she continued to rub slow circles on the girl's back. She had no idea if it was helping or not, but she did not stop Melinda. It caused her to make a quick decision and slowly slide her hand underneath Skye's top. A sharp intake of breath came from them both as the growing bond seemed to hum happily at the food it was given. Skye shifted, lifting her head from Melinda's shoulders and started at her. Melinda quirked an eyebrow before pressing her lips softly to her forehead. Not quite where she wanted to kiss but it would do for no. If her lips lingered there for longer than necessary, neither of them commented on it.

"They haven't bonded yet?" She heard Maria asked Coulson quietly, the shock in her voice.

"No." Skye and Melinda answered at the same time, turning to look at Maria, who didn't back down from the looks she was getting, but simply nodded, accepting their answer without judgment.

"Okay, just don't hurt yourselves, and yes that includes you as well Skye. You're now one of my agents, plus family. Whether you want to go ahead with the bond or not. Coulson's quite taken to you, he's like a puppy. You'll never get rid of him." Maria joked, trying to play off what she was saying, she could see the way Skye tensed with her words, the shock on her face.

Melinda pressed another kissed against the side of Skye's head, feeling quiet bold. She pressed them close to her ear "She's right you know. You're part of the family. This doesn't have to been anything more than it is already. I'm happy with it being what it is and I would be happy with it being more. All you need to decided it what you would be happy with." She mumbled supportively in Skye's ear, and then for good measure, she nipped Skye's lobe slightly cause a small gasp. Melinda smirked. They could have so much fun if Skye decided that is the direction she wants to go in.

"I really wish you did that when we were in your room." Skye whispered, turning to look at May, her eyes filled with lust.

May gulped, forcing that thought away, knowing that it was the side effects from the staff causing enhanced emotions and over reactions. Maria and Coulson were silent as they observed them, and for that May was grateful, she needed these small moments where Skye could slowly come out of the devastating state of the berserker staff. Especially when the two of them were slowly starting to tease each other like this.

"Maybe another day, if you're good." Melinda whispered back, going along with the flow. Skye was coming around, the physical contact seemed to be helping battle the effects of the staff. It could be the result of the two extremes. Pure hatred versus the pure love of a soul bond. If that was the solution, May would not be letting go of Skye until she was better, not caring who saw or what they thought. It wouldn't matter, nothing would until Skye was better.


	5. Chapter 5

**MAY**

Lunch with the family had actually turned out to be quite a nice experience, despite what had just happened on their mission. It had been nice to see both Sharon and Natasha again. There was a few missing from their makeshift family, but no doubt they would all catch up soon. Maria might pull one of her tricks again and get them all time off at Christmas. Normally they would all grumble and be secretly happy at the chance to spend some time with each other without it being interrupted by missions, but this year, Melinda was looking forward to it. She almost couldn't wait. For the first time she would actually have her soulmate with her.

She would no longer be the odd one out, sitting awkwardly as they were all coupled up and lounging over each other in a literal dog pile, wishing to every god out there that there was a way out of this hell. In recent years, when it came to holiday times, and it was all a little to much to be around, she made the excuse to go visit either her mother or father. It wasn't exactly an excuse and she would actually go spend time with them, but dealing with anyone else in the family that wasn't her mother or father was almost torture. Nearly every gathering had them all asking when she was going to meet her soulmate, and what was she doing with her life or making some 'tsks' of disappointment at her lifestyle.

So you could say that Melinda was really looking forward to the holiday's this year and spending time with her makeshift family.

Sharon had walked into Maria's office, holding bags of food and complaining about all of it as she opened the door, then almost dropped it all when she saw who was in the office. She grinned brightly, dropping the food off at the table and pulled Coulson into a hug, and squeezing her shoulder tightly, looking curiously at Skye in her arms.

"Not to be rude, but who are you?" Sharon asked, looking up at the others.

"This is Skye. Skye is Melinda's soulmate. Their working on it." Maria replied, supplying all the information that Sharon needed to know. "Did you get the hot sauce? Ah! There it is!" Maria finished with a grin as she poured it over her lunch.

"You're weird, but I love you." Sharon said with a sigh as she watched her wife pile on the hot sauce. "Also, soulmates? That's awesome that you've finally met her, Melinda, hope things work out between the two of you." she finished sweetly, smiling at the older women as she rocked Melinda.

Melinda just flashed a grin at the young Carter, grateful for her kind words and not pushing for more information on the way she was holding onto Skye, who had been pretty silent. Melinda looked down at the young women.

"You okay?" She mumbled.

"Yeah, just, lots to take in. This is your family?" Skye questioned, sitting up properly to look at Melinda.

"Yeah, the idiots. You'll end up hating them, they are annoying." Melinda replied, teasingly lightly with an easy smile.

"You know, out of everyone in this family, it's actually her and Barton who are the most annoying, they pull pranks and fuck around when they shouldn't be." Maria supplied from her desk, grinning at Sky, "and then there is Sharon and Natasha who are next, they love to just gossip, trade secrets and start rumours and seeing how far they can take it. I can easily say, myself and Coulson are the least annoying. Then there is Nick. Nick is just an asshole on the outside and a cuddler on the inside. Also a prick for giving me all this paper work." Maria finished, guesting to the paper that seemed to be coming out of every corner in the room.

"Somehow, I find all of that easy to believe. Mel's has been pulling pranks on the plane and blaming it on me. Everyone believes her as well, which sucks. The other's have been getting their revenge on me." Skye pouted, tilting her head towards Melinda, a sly smile slowly appearing on her face.

Melinda decided from there on out, she would never trust that smile on Skye's face. It was literally one filled with mischief, one that told her things were going to go badly for Melinda.

The rest of the lunch passed in relative ease, Natasha had appeared briefly, looking apologetic as she softly kissed Coulson, pulling him close to her as she curled up in his lap for the spare minutes that she had today. The two of them were whispering to themselves about something that Melinda did not bother listening to, if it was anything worth knowing, Phil would tell her later.

Skye had sat next to her, shock on her face as she dropped the bit of food that she was holding and looked at Melinda.

"Isn't that the Black Widow?!" She whispered excitedly, seemingly forgetting everything that had happened earlier on that day.

"Yes." Replied all five voice, all varying in emotion from amusement to deadpan.

"The Black Widow is enjoying a make out session with Coulson, it's rude to watch that Skye." Melinda reminded the girl, pulling her by the chin to focus on their conversation with Maria and Sharon.

"But-" She tried to protest but was silent by the three women giving her a stern look.

"C'mon, bug her later when she's not on limited time. Plus she family, she's a dork, not as badass as she seems. The novelty will wear off after you talk to her." Sharon supplied, grinning at Skye's enthusiasm over Natasha.

Skye pouted again, but shrugged, going back to eating her food, her spare hand slowly slipping into Melinda's. It caused a split eating grin to go over her face, she couldn't hide it if she tried, and honestly, she did not want to. She was with family, she shouldn't have to hide the fact that she was happy that Skye was holding her hand.

The lunch ended with Natasha quickly coming up to Maria and having a hushed conversation which finished with Natasha kissing the top of Maria's head and a promise to discuss more in depth in an hour.

Melinda was now lying in bed with Skye, the girl was curled up against her side, staring blankly at the wall as they let their fingers run soothingly over each other's bodies. Melinda sighed softly, turning her head to look at Skye, wishing that the women never touched the damn staff. Everything had been fine during lunch, she had been laughing and cracking jokes with the rest of them but as soon as they were alone, all of it faded.

She decided to move their positions, desperately seeking some kind of sign that Skye was going to be okay, that she could respond to a situation. Melinda brought Skye's arms around her and easily manoeuvred herself into a more comfortable position, pressing her face against Skye's collar bone, sticking her head under the women's chin and held on tightly to her. Waiting.

It was nice, to be held like this, it would be even nicer if Skye had initiated it and was actually holding her back as tightly as she was holding her. It made her feel safe, safe from her own demons. Safe from the demons Skye was facing that was backlashing to her. It was a weird sensation, to have Skye's feeling's in the back of her mind, threatening to take over her own. It was a sign that if they were to complete their bond, they would have a strong one that was focused on their connection via their emotions and thoughts, rather than a physical one, like Phil shared with Natasha and Clint. It would be nice to complete it, to experience it at it's most powerful.

Maria and Sharon shared the same type of soulmate connection as they would, and they often had difficulties describing how it felt to be connected to someone like that, it was something that ran deep within each other and they couldn't imagine their lives without it. They did not want to. It also took sometime for them to get used to, Sharon was a total hot head and would blow up at anything that slightly pissed her off, whereas Maria was the calm and collected one, channeling her emotion's into something productive and hiding them to run S.H.I.E.L.D effectively and the two conflicting personalities cause the two of them to act out and succumb to the others emotions, even when it might not have been appropriate.

It looked like it might be the same for Skye and herself, but she could only hope that that would not be the case.

Sighing once more, she curled herself further into Skye, awaiting sleep and praying that the women was not mad at her.

"I'm not mad." Skye whispered softly, tightening her arms around Mel, burying her face in her hair.

Skye didn't talk after that, but it did help ease Melinda back into a solid sleep, clinging tightly to Skye, satisfied knowing that Skye was not mad at her for refusing her request for sex. Melinda had outright refused, stating that it would be taking advantage of her when she was in this frame of mind before angrily saying that both of them deserved a better first time together than a quick, hurried release that was a side effect of an Asgardian weapon. It had shut Skye up pretty quickly and had not spoken until then.

"Good." Melinda mumbled, letting sleep take over her. Only one day left of down time and she was going to make the most of it.

* * *

Melinda was irritated. She was irritated at the missions they were getting. Irritated at the idea of a clairvoyant. Irritated at Coulson for getting caught up in all this, irritated at him encouraging Skye's belief in it and her excitement for this (this was not something to be excited about). Irritated at Ward. Irritated at Mike Peterson.

Melinda May was extremely irritated.

Peterson was a ticking time bomb, and as much as she protested his appearance on the plane, Coulson just smiled and brushed off her complaints, saying that he was fine to have on the plane. Fine was not what she wanted to her, what she wanted to hear was that Peterson had been through several test to prove that he was safe to have on this plane and not under anyone's control but his own.

Unfortunately she can't just keep glaring to get her own way with Coulson. Next time she should just send Natasha a text, telling her what Coulson was doing and she would sort him out for being so reckless.

They were on a search for Edward Po, their one and only real solid link to more information on Centipede, but so far they kept coming up with dead ends and not even Skye was able to find any information on him before prison.

"It's honestly like he never existed. It takes some talent a resources to get someone completely off the internet like this." Skye had told them, her eyes shinning as the possibilities ran through her mind.

Either way, Melinda was slowly becoming concerned that Coulson might be over doing it. He was determined to go on every field mission involving this, even getting into combat, whilst he was declared physically fit and capable of doing these types of missions, Melinda would not let him do it if she could help it.

It was extremely hard to do when he was being a stubborn bastard.

So she was working out her frustrations at everything by being in their make shift gym, wailing on a poor punching bag, working up a sweat and getting everything out her system.

"You know, it should be illegal for you to be this hot."

Melinda paused in her workout and glanced up at Skye, who was making her way down the stairs with a small smile.

"I brought you some tea, just the way you like it, no milk, one sugar." Skye offered, holding up the cup, "although I'm not sure how nice it will be now that you're all sweaty and hot from punching that bag." she finished, setting the tea down, slowly lowering herself onto the ground.

May rolled her eyes, but finished up her work out, sitting down next to the girl, letting the cool metal wall of the plane cool her body down.

"Thanks" She mumbled, brining the cup to her lips to take a sip, drinking tea after a workout was always refreshing and calming. "You're getting bold." May said, after silence fell between them, she turned to look at the girl sitting next to her.

Skye shrugged, "No one is around to hear me, chill."

"That's no what I meant." May said in annoyance.

"I know." Skye replied quietly.

The two of them sat together, letting the gentle hum of the plane fill the silence as they tried to figure out what to say to each other. After the whole Berserk staff incident, the two of them were unsure of where they stood with each other. It was the most intimate the two of them have ever been and the most connected as well. Melinda still found Skye's feelings to be in the back of her mind constantly, as well as what she was doing, it was an easy way to make sure the girl was okay. She was also positive that Skye could feel and see what she was doing as well as more than once she has felt the women attempt to change Melinda's mood when she was angry or upset.

"I've been thinking about what you said... about the situation we are in and...and your family. You hide it really well, but you feel like the odd one out. I could feel it, May. I could _feel_ how you felt about the situation, being the only one without a soulmate and then having your soulmate, but not having them.

You have all these emotions about the situations that we get in but you always push them to the side to make sure Coulson's okay, to make sure your team is okay...to make sure I'm okay... and... when you said that we both deserved better than meaningless sex? You were right, well, right about yourself. You give so much and ask for nothing in return. You deserve better than a soulmate who never wanted one in the first place, who went out their way to avoid meeting their soulmate.

You deserve so much more...which is why I'm being more, bold, as you put it. You deserve a thousand chances to be with your soulmate, so I'm making the effort, not just sitting on the side lines, letting you do all the work. That was wrong of me, and I'm sorry that I'm making you hold back in all of this. I want to make things work between us." Skye babbled out, fiddling with her fingers, refusing to make eye contact as she spilled out the truth.

Melinda paused, out of everything she was expecting Skye to, that was not one of them, but...it was still nice to hear her say that. It was always nice to have someone appreciate what you, even if you don't really care about recognition, but it was coming from Skye, so of course that made her feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

She was happy, if she were completely honest, it had been draining putting all this effort into creating a relationship with someone who wasn't sure what they wanted but thought they wanted what you were offering, so it was great to hear that Skye was going to start making more of an effort to make this work.

Melinda slide her hand across the floor and easily grabbed Skye's, lacing her finger tightly with hers. She turned to face Skye, a smile on her face and squeezed their hands together.

"Alright, sounds like we're going to have much fun." Melinda commented, not really wanting to say much in case someone walked in.

"That's all you have to say?" Skye questioned, astonished.

"That's all I have to say _here_." Melinda gently reminded the girl, standing up and pulling her to her feet. "You are more than welcome to continue this conversation in either of our bunks." Melinda finished, throwing the girl a wink as she walked away... maybe a bit more seductively than she needed to, but judging by the sudden change in Skye's emotion and thoughts, it was totally worth it.

God, it's like she is a horny teenage school girl.

* * *

The mission was a bust. Mike Peterson had betrayed them and she had lost Coulson. She was dead multiple times over. Melinda set the bus on auto-pilot, heading for The Hub to await for further orders. No doubt from Victoria Hand, and that was going to cause a headache and a half dealing with that women. She was only ever barely to be around when off duty and/or when Hartley, her soulmate, was with her. Hartley was able to calm down some of Victoria's over-abundant tendencies which made her quite fun to be around but without Hartley acting as a buffer, Victoria could be a nightmare.

In the nicest possible way.

She moved silently to her bunk, her team had all went to sleep nearly straight away, Ward being the last one to go to his bed. She opened her door and sighed. She wanted to scream at something, hit something, wail on a punching bag for all she cared, she just needed this feeling of helplessness to leave her. Phil was her best friend, and he was taken under her watch, possibly being tortured. How was she supposed to deal with that?

Melinda fell face first into her bed, not even bothering to pull back her covers. She was exhausted, she managed to change but that was about it. She honestly had no idea how she was going to move forward, what was her next move? Other than going to the Hub.

A knock on her door pull her out of her thoughts, she lifted her head, mentally preparing herself. Skye's head popped in and smiled upon seeing that she was still awake. Melinda watched the women as she entered, wearing her PJ's and carrying her favourite red blanket. Skye laid herself down onto the bed, next to Melinda.

"Tough day, huh?" Skye said softly, rolling onto her side and offering her arms to Melinda.

It only took a second of thinking before Melinda accepted the invitation, easily sliding against Skye's body and tucking her head neatly against the other women's collarbone. Skye wrapped her blanket over their bodies to allow some warmth and held Melinda tightly.

"We'll get him back, we're like S.H.I.E.L.D's A team, totally the best, and if not, his soul mates are the freaking Avengers. It's only a matter of time." Skye mumbled comfortingly to Melinda, slowly stroking the women's back. "We'll get him back." She repeated. "We have to."

Melinda did not argue with that statement. It was true, they did have to get him back. Fury did not go through the trouble of him dying and bringing him back only for him to go missing seven months later. Plus he was Melinda's closest friend and her family. He couldn't leave her.

Melinda just did not want to think about what might be happening to him, or the worst outcomes. She just wants to focus on the fact that Skye's came for her, to come comfort her when Coulson means a great deal to her as well. Coulson constantly put his faith in Skye, that she can achieve anything that he asks of her.

She needed Coulson to come back as much as Melinda did. Melinda needed to see the two of them being dorks together, geeking out over the Avengers and just being this weird duo, or weird trio if she were to include Maria. She needed that in her life and that could not happen if he did not come back.

"We'll get him back." Melinda parroted, her voice muffled by Skye's body. "We have to."


End file.
